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Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro held their first ever Luminary Awards on October 24, 2018. The takeCHARGE Luminary Awards were created to recognize people, organizations and communities across the province who have taken steps to be more energy efficient.

We would like to congratulate the following winners who were recognized at our inaugural event:

“We are committed to helping our customers make wise decisions about their energy use. By following the sound advice of our takeCHARGE energy experts, our customers save millions on their electricity bills every year,” said Gary Murray, Vice President, Customer Operations. “The Luminary Award recipients have shown leadership in promoting and advancing energy efficiency in Newfoundland and Labrador and we appreciate their partnership.”

Check out our press release for more details on the award categories and recipients.

At Newfoundland Power we’re committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner while enhancing the quality of life in the communities where we live and work. We take pride in the difference our employees have made in communities across the island through our employee-driven Environmental Commitment Program.

EnviroFest is our annual celebration of the environment and this year we celebrated 20 years of hosting beautification projects across the province. Our employees dig in and play a hands-on role in the projects by volunteering, working right alongside our community partners.

We once again invited municipalities and community groups to submit proposals early in March and the great projects highlighted below were completed in June.

Carmanville: Approximately 20 volunteers, including MHA Derrick Bragg, were on hand to construct 10 planter boxes located at the town council office and another was constructed for the senior’s home in the community.

St. Mark’s School – King’s Cove: We had another great turnout from the community, employees and Minister Eddie Joyce and MHA Neil King dropped by. Employees and volunteers created an outdoor classroom and cleaned up around the school to make way for planter boxes that were filled with vegetable plants and flowers.

Tom McCormick Memorial Park – Bristol’s Hope: Approximately 40 employee volunteers and residents, along with Minister Steve Crocker, were on hand to lay over 4,000 square feet of sods in under one hour and planted trees/shrubs and flowers.

Steady Brook: We worked with the Corner Brook Stream Trail Association to plant trees and shrubs at the beginning of the trail in Steady Brook that will eventually connect with the trail in Corner Brook. Our partnership with the Corner Brook Stream Trail Association has spanned almost 15 years and it was great to work them again.

The holidays are a time for us to give back to those who are close to us as well as those in need.

Our employees have been busy this season in support of many different community initiatives: We collected over 16,000 pounds of food for the Community Food Sharing Association; served breakfast to the hardworking staff at St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital; stocked gifts bags for the Gathering Place; decorated cancer centres in St. John’s and Gander for the holiday season; helped children keep warm for another year through our commitment to the Coats for Kids program; and, donated many units of blood to help save lives as part of our ongoing partnership with Canadian Blood Services.

Through the generosity of our customers and employees, we have been able to help make a difference in the fight against cancer. Through our corporate charity, The Power of Life Project, we have donated much-needed equipment in support of cancer treatment and comfort, filled a toy box full of joy for children, and shared in the celebration of hope through the Let Hope Ring program.

We couldn’t be prouder of two of our employees, Wayne Baggs and Jim Short, Meter Readers in Corner Brook. On Tuesday, November 15, 2016, Wayne and Jim attended a Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) Safety Symposium in Toronto where they each received a 2015 CEA Lifesaving Award.

This is their story:

Jim Short and Wayne Baggs were driving east on the TCH about 5 km past Deer Lake when they came across an accident scene. A vehicle had been travelling west on the TCH when it struck some slush and the driver lost control. The vehicle did several 360 degree turns before going off the road and ended up upside down in a water filled ditch. The men parked their vehicles and ran to the ditch along with three other drivers who had also stopped. The driver of the vehicle was trapped inside and the five men decided they had to try to lift the vehicle to allow the driver to escape. They entered water up to their knees, quickly realizing that meant the driver of the vehicle was upside down and submerged in freezing water which was filling the drivers’ compartment. The driver was also surrounded by airbags that had just gone off and was in great peril if the men could not lift the car – but they did it, and the driver was able to crawl out. Had they not been there and lifted the vehicle quickly the driver mostly likely would have drowned. It was noted from the time they stopped until the rescue no other vehicles drove past the accident scene – this truly meant their efforts had made the difference between life or death.

Congratulations to Wayne Baggs and Jim Short – you are truly heroes!

Newfoundland Power

For approximately 130 years, we have provided customers with safe, reliable electricity in the most cost-efficient manner possible and now we’re happy to provide you with the latest news in these areas on our blog.